Chapter 10:

Hitsugaya hurried out his office door and into the hall. The paperwork could wait. Right now there was something more important he had to attend to. He ran past his lieutenant and gave her the orders to gather up any Squad 10 member who isn't doing anything and have them search for Ichigo. He was doing the same himself. The more people looking, the sooner someone was bound to find him.

Momo ran past him going down another hall. "Are you looking, too, Little Shiro?"

"Hinamori…" Hitsugaya's eye twitched. "I've asked you repeatedly not to call me that."

"Sorry…" She wasn't really. "Are you looking for Ichigo, too?"

"Of course."

"Me, too! We can look together!" She smiled at him brightly.

"We'll cover more ground if we split up."

She seemed disappointed. "Oh, ok. Good luck to you!" He hurried off. As Hitsugaya ran straight ahead, he heard her call back, "Work hard, Little Shiro!"

"I told you not to-" Before he could get the words out, he bumped into something. It felt like a body. He rubbed his head and looked straight ahead. "Huh?"

It was almost like staring in a mirror. No, wait… Only the eyes were like his. The rest of the body was totally different. This boy was roughly his size and age and had his eyes. But he also had black hair, a slight tan and a suit. He looked like a little butler. He also had a pink rose sticking out of his lapel. His startled expression matched Hitsugaya's. However, he seemed more surprised to see a Soul Reaper looking as surprised as he was.

"Who the hell are you?"

"Who are you?" he asked back.

"Toshiro Hitsugaya."

The boy looked even more surprised. "But… that can't be right. That's my name."

"What?"

He held up a finger to Hitsugaya's face. "Wait a minute. Did you say 'Toshiro' or 'Sashiro'?"

"Toshiro."

He smiled and gave a little sigh. "Oh. That settles it. My name's Sashiro. Sashiro Ikehata. I never use that name, though. It's not important were I come from."

Hitsugaya looked him up and down. "You're not a Soul Reaper, are you?"

"Nope!" Sashiro smiled.

"How did you get in here? Non-Soul Reapers aren't allowed."

"I was just following Rosalia. We split up a little while ago. She said that she was looking for some fun. I guess she was getting bored with me."

Hitsugaya's expression never changed. He looked deadly serious. "Whoever you are and wherever you came from, you're not allowed to be here."

Sashiro put his hands on his hips and puffed out his chest, making himself look bigger. "Who's gonna make me? You? Ha! I'd like to see you try, shrimp."

Hitsugaya started to pull out the sword on his back.

The boy flinched and coward behind his hands. "Ok! Ok! I'm sorry!"

"It doesn't matter. You have a lot of explaining to do. First of all, how did you get in here?"

Sashiro looked like he was about to answer then stopped and looked at the figure towering over Hitsugaya's back. His jaw trembled and he took a few steps back in terror.

Something was behind him. Why hadn't he sensed it sooner? As Hitsugaya turned to meet the assailant, a hand shot out, grabbed his arm and held him down. The next thing Hitsugaya felt was a sharp pain in his neck.

Ichigo slowly and carefully pushed open the flagstone and peered around. It was a lot warmer above ground than it was in the underground tunnels. Nathan climbed up the latter behind him, waiting for the ok. Once the coast was clear, the two started up the latter. Shouting from close by caused Ichigo to suddenly shove Nathan back down and slam the lid shut once more. Once the group of Soul Reapers passed by overhead, Ichigo looked out through the hole again. This time it was ok.

Safe to climb out, Ichigo was the first one to reach the outside. He knelt down by the opening and helped Nathan out. "You ok?"

Nathan rubbed the side of his face. "Other than your foot in my face when you kicked me back down the hole, I'm doing great."

"Sorry about that." Ichigo closed the flagstone and stood up, looking around. "We're pretty close. We might just make it inside before anyone sees us if we make a break for it."

Nathan took his running stance, preparing to run.

"It might be faster if I were to carry you."

"I don't want to be any trouble."

"You're not." Ichigo had no time to argue with him. "Ok. Run when I say… GO!"

The two broke into a dead run, racing for the staircase leading to the large double doors. They were almost there, when Ichigo got a sudden chill. He looked up and saw snow falling from nowhere. In an instant, he felt like he was being frozen from the inside out. This Spirit Pressure… Oh, no!

He held out his arm to stop Nathan. Their path suddenly iced over along with most of the stairs. The two turned around and saw the captain of Squad 10 waiting for them from behind, sword already out and pointing straight at them. Ichigo stepped before Nathan, blocking his view of Hitsugaya.

Hitsugaya pointed his sword at them both, eyes dark and full of hate. Those weren't his eyes. They were the same as Ukitake's and Hisagi's when they were under Rodger's influence. He must have gotten bitten, too!

"Ichigo?" Nathan wanted to know his plan of action.

"Get inside. I'll handle this."

"But-"

"Hitsugaya's strong. If you take part in this fight, he'll kill you. Besides…" He looked into Hitsugaya's cold, hard, evil eyes. "I think Rodger got to him, too. Those aren't his eyes."

Nathan made a small noise like a gasp.

"Just run to the doors. I can take him."

"But isn't he a captain?"

"I've dealt with him before. I can do this. Just get out of the way and run."

Actually, Ichigo wasn't so confident in this fight. Hitsugaya was strong. Very strong. And powerful, too. Unlike Ukitake, Hitsugaya had no medical handicap. He wouldn't collapse and start hacking up blood if he pushed himself too hard. He was not someone to take lightly at all. Even Ichigo doubted that this fight would end well for him. Not because he was afraid of losing, but because of what he would have to do to win this fight. He would have to seriously hurt Hitsugaya in order to win or at the very least come out alive. Besides, what if he was caught fighting another captain again? He would be digging himself into an even deeper hole. One thing was for sure. If Hitsugaya had Rodger's personality inside of him, Ichigo would have no choice but to fight. He didn't feel right about it, but he had to do it. Hitsugaya wasn't just going to let him go after all.

Ichigo tried to plead with Hitsugaya anyway. "Toshiro, you have to listen to me."

Hitsugaya raised his sword. "Where's your manners? Show me a little respect! It's Captain Hitsugaya to you!"

Well, at least that much was still the same about him.

"Please listen to me. We don't have to fight. I don't want to fight you."

"Oh, but I do!" Hitsugaya attacked.

Ichigo pulled out his sword and blocked the blow. Immediately as their blades touched, Ichigo could see his slowly being incased in ice. He ripped it away and stood back. He stole a quick glance over his shoulder to see if Nathan had done what he had told him to. He saw Nathan scrambling up the stairs towards the double doors, sliding a little on the ice.

Good.

"Don't look away, cur!"

Ichigo whipped his sword back around and blocked Hitsugaya's again. Hitsugaya jumped back and whipped his sword in a downward motion. "Reign over the Frosted Heavens, Hyorinmaru!"

"Great, that's all I need!" Ichigo blocked again as the giant ice dragon came at him. Then there was the unmistakable cracking sound of freezing ice. His feet felt so cold. He looked down and saw that Hitsugaya's attack had frozen his legs to the ground. There was no escape now.

Hitsugaya came at him from above. Ichigo threw his sword between them. Their blades clashed and rattled in their hands. Hitsugaya pushed hard against Ichigo's force, unclear whether he was trying to knock the sword from his hands or chop straight through his weapon and into his chest. It was all Ichigo could do to hold him back.

Shouting caught their attention. It was his squad coming to help. No, that wasn't it. They wanted to see what all the commotion was about. Once they saw that their captain had Ichigo on the ropes, they started to cheer him on. Rather than look pleased or even the slightest bit appreciative at their cheering, Hitsugaya looked more annoyed than ever. Murderous. Hearing their voices was annoying him to no end. He looked like he was ready to kill them all.

And he could.

Ichigo tried to warn them. "No, don't! Stay away! Get away from him!"

They didn't even hear him from the way they kept cheering. "Get him, Captain!"

"Yeah, way to go!"

"Nice job!"

"You caught Ichigo in nothing flat!"

"No need to waste your strength on him. We can take it from here."

They were in great danger, didn't they realize that? Not even the way Hitsugaya glared at them with his cold, murderous eyes tipped them off. This wasn't going to end well.

"Get away from him!" Ichigo warned again. "I know what it way look like, but you have to trust me! That is not your captain! It's not Toshiro!"

They paid him no attention. It was their last chance, too.

Hitsugaya turned away from Ichigo for a fraction of a second, pulling his sword from Ichigo's. "Shut UP!" Hitsugaya swung it straight at them, freezing them instantly. All of them were incased in thick ice from head to toe.

"Toshiro!"

He looked back. "What? They were in my way…" he answered coolly. "Now where were we?"

"We were at the part where I kick your ass!" Using an amazing amount of strength, Ichigo managed to rip himself free of the ice around his feet and tore after the young captain. With no change in his cold expression, Hitsugaya blocked him effortlessly.

From the corner of his eye, Ichigo could see Nathan running back down the stairs and over to the frozen Soul Reapers. What the hell's he doing? I told him to run!

Nathan ran straight to the Soul Reapers, picked up a fallen sword and started to cut away at the ice surrounding them. He clumsily held the sword in his hands and brought it down over his head onto the thick unyielding ice.

He was trying to save them.

"I said don't look away from me!" Hitsugaya threw Ichigo into the air with one thrust of his sword and chased after him, jumping straight up. Ichigo spun around in midair to block the second attack. But there was a third attack hiding in the second. His sword was slowly being frozen to his hands. He swung back at Hitsugaya.

It looked like he would have to go all-out if he wanted to make it out alive. Hitsugaya was strong. He could take a lot more than this. Still, it didn't feel right to attack another person when they weren't in their right state of mind. But he had little choice in the matter.

"Bankai!"

Hitsugaya kicked off from Ichigo's injured shoulder and flew back down to the ground. The next time he looked up, Ichigo had changed.

"Tensa Zangetsu!"

Hitsugaya remained unimpressed. He held up his own sword. "Bankai!"

Ichigo landed just a few feet away, far from where Nathan stood. Two wings suddenly wrapped themselves around Ichigo's body. He threw himself into the air, escaping his icy enclosure.

"Daiguren Hyorinmaru!"

So he was going all out, too. Ichigo gripped his smaller sword tightly and swung, declaring loudly, "Getsuga Tensho!"

A safe distance away, Nathan was still chopping away at the huge block of ice encasing the Soul Reapers. He kept pleading with himself to hurry up and free them. I have to hurry before they suffocate or freeze to death! I have to help them! I can't just stand around and do nothing! I have to try! Finally, he managed to chip off a large chunk of ice from one of the Soul Reapers. Working furiously, Nathan ripped and pulled away at the ice with his fingers.

He managed to free a chunk from in front of one of their mouths, allowing them to breath. Hearing the first Soul reaper take his first breath of air was very reassuring. He moved on to do the same with the others. He was extremely careful not to chop too close to their faces as he used the sword to cut away at the ice. This was taking so long. Hopefully he could save these people in time.

Another loud crash from behind made Nathan jump out of his skin. The fight was coming back toward them.

"Getsuga Tensho!"

A loud boom shook the ground, forcing Nathan to his knees. It was like trying to stay standing in the middle of an earthquake. Nathan looked up and saw Hitsugaya deliberately plummet into Ichigo midair and tackle him to the ground. He stood up and called after him. "Ichigo!"

Another crash and a large beam of darkness came shooting out from the end of Ichigo's sword. Was that his attack? Nathan had never seen him use it before. He turned back to the Soul Reapers in ice. Once he finished here, he could go help him. Hitsugaya was indeed very strong. He needed all the help he could get.

Actually, Ichigo was managing fine. He was just trying not to kill him. It was a hard thing to do, fight at your all while holding back. It was impossible! You would think that Rodger's influence would have worn off by now.

Ichigo blocked again.

Ice crystals were thrown in every direction each time their swords met. This was a dangerous match. Ichigo's best hope was to wear him down. Maybe he would come back to himself. Again and again Hitsugaya's sword fell upon him with incredible force. Hitsugaya was very strong. So much power in such a little body.

With a flick of his wrist, a pillar of ice shot up from the ground under Ichigo. An ice prison! Ichigo tried to get out of the way, but time wasn't on his side. Another pillar shot up in front of him and another on his left. Before he knew it, large ice pillars were surrounding him, no matter which way he looked. There was no escape. With another twist of his sword, the pillars squeezed in around him all at once until he could no longer move.

Hitsugaya flew up next to him, his dark expression never changing. He raised his sword to finish him off. A chunk of ice flew up from the ground and hit him in the side of the head. He looked down and saw Nathan standing below.

That distraction was all Ichigo needed. "Getsuga Tensho!" The ice shattered with explosive force. The ice wings on Hitsugaya's back shielded him from most of the debris. But when he turned, he was met with a sword in the face. As he moved to bring his sword up, Ichigo reached out and grabbed it in his bare hand.

Taken aback by this, Hitsugaya just stared at him for a moment, then tried to break his sword free. Ichigo's grip on the sword was incredible. No matter how hard he pushed or pulled, the sword wouldn't budge. "Let go!" Hitsugaya used his other hand to try to peel Ichigo's fingers off his sword's hilt. "Get off! Let go, I said!"

Ichigo stared straight into his dark aqua eyes with a look of irritation and dissatisfaction. But also pity.

"What are you looking at?" Hitsugaya demanded, still pulling away at his sword. "Stop it!"

"No matter which way I look at you…" Ichigo said in little above a whisper. "You're just not him."

"Huh? What are you talking about?"

"The Toshiro I know would never charge into a fight swinging his sword around like that. He would never charge in head first like an angry bull. He would think things out and plan. He would be smart and not try to show the other person up. He wouldn't make a competition out of a fight. He wouldn't go all out just because the other person did. The Toshiro I know isn't a show-off. He's smarter than that." Ichigo twisted the sword downward and watched Hitsugaya trip on the air. "You're not him. You're not Toshiro."

He looked up with a snarl, like an angry wolf caught in a hunter's trap. He knew when he was beat, but didn't know when to give up. He wasn't going down without a fight. If he was going to go down, he was going down fighting until he couldn't anymore. The least he could do now was give Ichigo hell. He still tried to pull his sword free, but just couldn't do it.

"Give me it back!" He clawed at Ichigo's hand. "I command you!"

"No." It was a flat, simple answer.

"Gimme!"

"No."

Hitsugaya threw his head down and started to bite Ichigo's hand. "Gimme! Gimme!" he growled throw his teeth and a mouthful of flesh. He was desperate. Hitsugaya kicked his legs wildly, fighting in any way he could. He was throwing a tantrum. "Gimme the damn sword!"

Ichigo let go. Hitsugaya fell back in the air, finally standing after skidding for a good distance. He took up his sword, ready to finish the fight. Ichigo did the same. They both lunged at each other, swords drawn and pointed at each other.

At the last possible second, Ichigo ducked. Riding on the wind, Hitsugaya watched Ichigo fall to the ground under him. He lifted his head just in time to see the remains of the ice pillar coming at him at lightning speed. With no time to stop, Hitsugaya slammed face-first into the wall of ice and fell to the ground, writhing in pain.

"Pathetic," Ichigo said. "I can't believe how stupid you are."

Hitsugaya looked at him upside-down. "What did you just call me, cur?"

"Well, you are." Ichigo gave a one armed shrug and disappointed sigh. "Besides, if you don't like being told what to do, then why are you taking orders from old man Yamamoto? I would think that you of all people who know better than to take orders from that guy. Please… A prodigy like you and the youngest off all the captain taking orders from an old geezer like him? I thought you were better than that. Guess I was wrong. And by the way, I can't believe you fell for that ice wall trick. I mean, how stupid can you be? For a prodigy, you're pretty dumb. Dumb and pathetic."

Hitsugaya's eyes narrowed, burning like flames.

This was perfect. Now that Ichigo got him angry, Hitsugaya would charge right in without thinking and be easily overpowered by Ichigo. It was a good plan, if he did say so himself. With Rodger's personality, Hitsugaya was nothing more than a raging bull in the ring. Charge in without a plan. Ichigo's plan, however, was working perfectly.

Furious, Hitsugaya scrambled to his feet and went after Ichigo.

"I'll kill you!"

This time, Ichigo made the first move. He charged at Hitsugaya, sword at the ready. The point plunged into Hitsugaya's shoulder, stopping at the hilt. Hitsugaya threw his head back and howled with pain. Ichigo ripped his sword out and hung back waiting. Hitsugaya somehow managed to stay on his feet, ignoring his bleeding shoulder.

For God's sake, Toshiro, Ichigo pleaded in his mind. Give it up. Just stand down. Just stop before you kill yourself! Please! I don't want to do this to you…

Hitsugaya raised his sword again and jumped. "I'll KILL YOU!"

He wasn't giving up. He was going to keep on fighting until one of them was dead. That was bad news for Ichigo. The Substitute Soul Reaper had no choice but to take up his sword once more.

"I'm sorry," he whispered to no one in particular. "I'm sorry I had to do this."

Ichigo ducked down as Hitsugaya's blade swung over his head, catching only a few strands of his orange hair. Taking his own sword in hand, he attacked back. The jet-black flash from below cut up from the right side of the captain's abdomen to the left side of his collarbone. His blade stood perfectly still at the point where the sharp strike was completed in his right hand. The one-handed upward swing cost Hitsugaya this fight. Drops from the massive eruption of blood hit Ichigo in the face. Unblinking, his eyes remained open but narrowed. The entire time, Ichigo couldn't bring himself to look at him.

Hitsugaya caught completely off guard by the skillful attack stared straight ahead, pain having yet to kick in. Finally, he opened his mouth and spat out a mouthful of blood. His chest had been cut wide open, turning his white captain's jacket crimson. His ice wings shattered and his sword dropped to the ground with a clang. Hitsugaya fell face-first to the ground beside Ichigo. He could no longer put up any sort of fight. He had been defeated.

Ichigo turned his attention to the fallen captain with a look of pity and sorrow. He really didn't want to do it, but he was given no other choice.

Nathan rushed over and knelt down beside Hitsugaya, paying no attention to Ichigo this time. He rolled him onto his back and pressed an ear to his chest.

"He's fine," Ichigo told him. "Don't worry about it. I left him alive. That attack was just meant to stop him. I've seen him survive worse. He'll be fine."

Nonetheless, Nathan tried to stop the bleeding with his bare hands. He looked desperately around for something he could use. Then he looked at Ichigo, his eyes full of worry and panic. "Help me!"

"I told you that he'd be fine. We've got to get out of here before someone sees-"

"But we can't just leave him here! He's not even talking or anything!"

"He probably lost consciousness. Just leave him alone. Someone will be here shortly. He'll be fine."

"I'm not leaving him here to die!"

For a moment, Ichigo left his heart skip a beat. Nathan's eyes were fixed on his, deadly serious. The tone of his voice and sureness of his stare left no room for argument. Ichigo gave in with a sigh.

"Alright, fine." Ichigo stooped down to help him. He ripped off Hitsugaya's jacket and wrapped it around his torso like a giant bandage. Then he took Hitsugaya and draped him over his back, piggybacking him. "Now, let's move it. We'll take him inside and over to a place where there's people around to help. They'll find him and take care of him. But I'm not doing anything else, got it? I'm risking enough just by doing this, you understand me?"

Though Ichigo's tone was forceful, Nathan couldn't help but smile and nod at him as if he had just been offered a new bike in exchange for doing chores. "Thank you! Thank you!"

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